Soros puts his millions to work for Kerry's challenge

By Joanna Chung

Financial Times

Published: October 25 2004

From worsting the Bank of
England to spreading the gospel of democracy overseas,
George
Soros has long collided to dramatic effect with the
world he
inhabits.

But now the Hungarian-born financier turned US
citizen, who
has built up a $7.2bn fortune by taking huge market
risks, is
committing his cash to the most emotionally-charged
gamble of
his life: the drive to eject George W. Bush from the
White
House.

In a painfully close race, his financial muscle -
and skill
at exploiting loopholes in the newly-toughened
legislation on
political donations - could prove pivotal.

But his intervention has reignited concerns about
the
impact of big money on the US political process - and
laid
Soros, a veteran campaigner for campaign finance
reform, open
to charges of hypocrisy.

One thing is beyond question: at 74, Mr Soros is
still a
man who puts his mouth where his money is.

Not content with the millions of dollars he has
already
spent bankrolling political organisations responsible
for the
aggressive voter mobilisation drives and advertising
campaigns
that have marked this election year, he has been
pounding the
pavement himself, taking his message to the
battleground
states in the run-up to November 2.

At 7.30 on a rainy Boston morning we find him
heading for
Minneapolis to beat the drum in person for Senator
John Kerry
as part of a 12-stop speaking tour of battleground
states.

So why would someone of his age and eminence
continue to
subject himself to the rigours of the road?

"I really think that the future of America and the
future
of the world are at stake," he says. "If I can
actually
contribute to changing the direction of American
foreign
policy, that would be greater than anything else that
I have
done."

It all began a world away from chilly
Massachusetts, at a
meeting in his Long Island mansion last summer where
the
organisers of America Coming Together - the
get-out-the-vote
organisation - disclosed a plan for a door-knocking
campaign
in five of what were then 17 closely contested states.

Mr Soros set the bar higher. "In order to make it
worthwhile, we have to do it in all 17 states," he
recalls
thinking at the time. He asked his consultants to find
ways to
maximise the impact of his contributions. The vehicle
they
identified was the so-called 527 groups - political
organisations named for a sectionin the tax code -
that did
not violate, at least in letter, the 2002
McCain-Feingold
campaign finance law limiting soft money
contributions.

"He changed the dynamic of the election, giving the
527s a
life of their own," says William Angel, associate
professor of
political science at Ohio State University in
Columbus. "His
efforts to get out the vote has inspired others to get
out the
vote."

So far Mr Soros has given $23.5m to more than half
a dozen
groups, including ACT. By being so vocal and
encouraging
others to contribute, he has also helped to level the
playing
field for the Democrats, who have traditionally
trailed the
Republicans in raising cash.

He admits he is "rather uncomfortable" playing such
a
partisan role. But he considers it a calling. "I have
described it as messianic though I did not mean it in
a
religious sense," he says.

But the reluctance of a polarised nation to listen
to
reasoned argument clearly frustrates Mr Soros, who has
based
his financial and philanthropic activity on the idea
that
critical thought is the basis of a democracy or an
"open
society." However, campaign finance reformers who once
saw Mr
Soros as an ally are dismayed. "He's gone from being
part of
the solution to being part of the problem," says Fred
Wertheimer of Democracy 21, a pro-reform group.

The right wing has sought to paint Mr Soros as a
"leftwing
radical," the "Daddy Warbucks of the Democrats," and
even
"Satan" himself for his prominent role in the
Democratic
effort. Mr Soros says he originally intended to keep a
low
profile to "exactly avoid making this an issue about
me". He
adds ruefully: "If it is a contest between George
Soros and
George Bush then I put all my money on George Bush."

But then he decided to use his notoriety as an
advantage.
Even so, the man who made $1bn out of Black Wednesday
by
betting against an overvalued sterling, is also the
person who
still appears far more comfortable discussing
philosophy than
giving stump speeches.

Mr Soros is cautiously optimistic that Mr Kerry
will win
and he dismisses punters who are giving a slight lead
to Mr
Bush. "I actually think that I should bet on the
market," he
says, with a mischievous smile. But that is only a
joke. Or is
it?